The Gardener's Supply Tumbling Composter has a smart design and high-quality materials which make this new compost tumbler super effective and easy to use. Just fill it up with garden refuse and kitchen scraps, slide the door closed and give it a turn every couple days. The built-in hand-holds provide easy leverage; a stabilizing inner crossbar helps breaks up compost during turning; black color absorbs heat. Rodent-proof design keeps pests out.

This is actually an update to my review (Emily from League City, TX) posted on 5/15/2014.

The metal frame on our first tumbler started to get wobbly in the last 30 days or so. The frame is directly on the ground/grass and after 5 years in coastal Texas it has corroded sufficiently to be unstable. The grass had actually grown over the frame, increasing ground contact and water hold up.

A friend of ours fabricated a replacement wooden stand as shown in the picture. The plastic tumbler and metal internal rod are still in good condition.

I bought one of these in 2009 and another maybe one year later. They are holding up well after 5 years and work great. The only signs of age are rust on the support legs. This year (2014) we added some drain holes to one of our bins with a drill since our compost is mostly kitchen scraps (greens) and tends to stay too wet. We are also adding the coir (Eco-Coir Potting Mix sold by Gardener's) as a source of browns in addition to the cardboard egg cartons we normally add.

These keep any "earthy" odors down and the creatures out (except gnats and fruit flies). The only time we had a problem with attracting animals was when we left a bin open to dry out a bit and forgot about it with a garden rake propped up against the supports. Combined with the unusually cold winter here in Texas, the rake provided a nice ramp for rodents to access the compost and pull out orange peels, etc. We discovered our error and haven't had problems since.

These are great tumblers and easy to turn except when very full and wet (and then they don't aerate well anyway). They don't get hot enough to destroy seeds so be careful with weeds. We had some delicious volunteer cantaloupes from composted grocery store produce.

I like these composters-they work. This size is a compromise-any bigger and it would be impossible to turn, but in a cold climate, it takes several months for compost to finish, so I found I really need two: one actively composting, and another that I am adding new materials to. I purchased the second about a year after the first, and both are holding up well after 3-4 yrs. I had to use a file to make one of the doors slide easily due to a casting imperfection-a minor nuisance. But, the doors slide well in all weather, unless frozen shut, and then a small sledge hammer does the trick. I just had to make the first repair-the 2.5 inch screws that hold the axle onto the frame corroded and broke. It cost only $1.02 for two screws & nuts, but I had to dump out the contents to make the drum light enough to re-assemble on the frame!

One caution: black widow spiders love to colonize the outside hand-hold slots, and sometimes, also live inside, so wear gloves when turning drum, adding waste, or removing compost,

This was a gift which I've had only for about three weeks, but so far, it's terrific! I particularly like the fact that although the materials are sturdy, the unit is movable to where I am working in the garden at the moment. I may be using it in a different way than its designated purpose, but I believe it will do the job. The capacity is more than adequate for our kitchen scraps and garden clippings.

I love this composter but the frame has completely rusted and has begun to break up along the bottom after several years of use. Disappointing because the composter itself is perfect for my use. I would only recommend it if it was enhanced with a weather resistant frame.

I have been adding our kitchen waste to the present compost barrel on a regular basis, until it occurred to me that the composting process will never end if I keep adding fresh stuff. So I ordered another barrel from the same supplier in Burlington, a fancier type (made in Canada) that rotates around an axle hanging on a frame. I was planning to set it on the deck conveniently to the back door, so it would be easy to feed daily. However, the stupid design has air/drain/vent holes on all of the extreme outside circumferential projections, so that the thing won't hold water or fine material – it just pours out the bottom-most holes. When rotated, there are always half-inch holes at the very bottom. When I dumped in the water, obviously necessary to start the process, it naturally dribbled right out, leaching and carrying all those valuable plant nutrients with it, all in a nasty brown staining stream. Plus coffee grounds and anything in bits smaller than an inch or so across. Good thing the deck is already brown, but what a stinkin' mess! I had to find a dowel of suitable diameter and cut it up into a lot of short lengths to plug those outer holes. There are still air vent holes in the sidewalls to do the venting part of the job. Rotating the barrel still tends to allow dripping around the access hatch, plus the powdery stuff still gets out the side holes, so I had to put it down on the slab below the deck after all. I read a few reviews about competitive products, and many complained about flimsy construction and cracking plastic. This is sturdy enough for the job, but I wonder how corrosion-free the frame will be after a winter or two.

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